John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the 1Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
291 Lamb of God Based on Scriptures, the religious people were looking for a great leader(vv. 19-25) such as Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet (Dan. 9:26; Mal. 4:5; Deut. 18:15, 18). But Jesus was intorduced to them as a little lamb with a little dove(vv. 29-33). The Lamb takes sin away from man, and the dove brings God as life to man. The Lamb is for redemption, to redeem fallen man back to God, and the dove is for life-giving, for anointing, to anoint man with what God is, to bring God into man and man into God, and for uniting the believers in God. Both the Lamb and the dove are needed for man to participate in God. ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, I am the 1bread of life; he who comes to Me shall 2by no means hunger, and he who believes inot Me shall by no means ever thirst.
351 bread of life The bread of life is the life supply in the form of food. it is like the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), which also is the life supply "good for food".
352 by no means In the principle set forth in John ch. 2, this is the changing of death into life. The source of death is the tree of knowledge, and the source of life is the tree of life. ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurredtion and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live.
No footnote.
Phil. 4:4 1Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
41 Rejoice Rejoicing affords us the strength for the oneness spoken of in vv. 2 and 3. Furthermore, rejoicing in the Lord is the secret of having the excellent virtues listed in vv. 5-9.. ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Matt. 11:28 1Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you 2rest.
281 Come This refers not only to the toil of striving to keep the commandments of the law and religious regulations but also to the toil of struggling to be successful in any work. Whoever toils thus is always heavily burdened. After the Lord extolled the Father, acknowledging the Father's way and declaring the divine economy, He called this kind of people to come to Him for rest.
282 Rest Rest refers not only to being set free from the toil and burden under the law or religion or under any work or responsibility, but also to perfect peace and full satisfaction............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who 1eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.
571 eat To eat is to take food into us that it may be assimilated organically into our body. Hence, to eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us that He may be assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life. Then we live by Him whom we have received. It is by this that He, the resurrected One, lives in us (John 14:19-20). ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 7:37 Now on the 1last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
371 last day The last day here signifies that all the enjoyment of any success in the human life will end. There is a last day to every kind of material thing of the physical life. ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Matt. 11:19 The Son of Man came 1eating and drinking; and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a 2friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by her works.
191 Eating and drinking John, coming to bring men to repentance (Mark 1:4) and to cause them to grieve for sin, had no taste for eating and drinking (Luke 1:15-17); whereas Christ, coming to bring salvation to sinners and to cause them to rejoice in it, had the joy of eating and drinking with them (9:10-11). The kingdom people, who are under no regulation, follow the divine wisdom, concentrating on the indwelling Christ, who is their wisdom (1·Cor. 1:30), not on the outward manner of life.
192 friend Christ is not only the Savior but also the Friend of sinners,who sympathizes with their problems and senses their grief............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
1 Cor. 10:4 And all drank the same 1spiritual drink; for they drank of a 2spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.
41 Spiritual Referring to the living water that flowed out of the cleft rock (Exo. 17:6), typifying the Spirit, who flowed out of the crucified and resurrected Christ, as our all-inclusive drink (John 7:37-39; 1·Cor. 12:13). For our running of the race we should all drink the same spiritual drink and should not drink anything other than the all-inclusive Spirit.
42 spiritual rock The rock that was smitten and cleft to flow out the living water for God's chosen people (Exo. 17:6) was a physical rock. Yet the apostle called it a spiritual rock because it typified Christ, who was smitten and cleft by God to flow out the water of life (John 19:34) to satisfy the thirst of His believers. Hence, the apostle said that the rock was Christ. Since it was a spiritual rock signifying Christ, it was able to follow the children of Israel. This indicates that Christ as the real rock is following His believers............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the 1light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
121 light The light of life (John 1:4) shines within man by the inner sense of
life to deliver man from sin............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the 1way and the 2reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
61 Way The way for man to enter into God is the Lord Himself. Since the way is a living person, the place to which the Lord brings man must also be a person, God the Father Himself. The Lord Himself is the living way by which man is brought into God the Father, the living place. The way needs the reality, and the reality needs the life. The Lord Himself is the life to us. This life brings us the reality, and the reality becomes the way by which we enter into the enjoyment of God the Father.
62 reality Christ is the reality of the divine things. This reality came through Him and becomes the realization of God to us............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Eph. 2:14 For He Himself is our 1peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle 2wall of partition, the enmity.
141 peace Christ, who accomplished full redemption for both the Jewish and the Gentile believers, is Himself our peace, our harmony, making both one. Because of the fall of mankind and the calling of the chosen race, there was a separation between Israel and the Gentiles. Through Christ's redemption this separation has been removed. Now, in the redeeming Christ, who is the bond of oneness, both are one.
142 wall The middle wall of partition is the law of the commandments in ordinances in v.·15, which was instituted because of man's flesh. The first ordinance was circumcision, the cutting off of man's flesh. This became the middle wall of partition between the circumcision and the uncircumcision............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Heb 4:14 Having therefore a great 1High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession.
141 high priest The Lord Jesus first was sent from God to us through incarnation (Heb 2:14) to be our Apostle (3:1), our Author, our Leader (2:10), the One superior to Moses (3:3), and our real Joshua (4:8) to bring us, His partners (1:9; 3:14), into glory and rest (2:10; 4:11). He then went back from us to God through resurrection and ascension (5:5-6) to be our High Priest to bear us in the presence of God and to care for all our needs (2:17-18; 4:15). ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
1 Tim 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our 1hope.
11 hope Christ Jesus is not only God's Anointed (Christ) to be our Savior (Jesus) that we might be saved to gain the eternal life of God, but also our hope to bring us into the full blessing and enjoyment of this eternal life. The hope of eternal life revealed in Titus 1:2, which was the base and condition of Paul's apostleship, and the blessed hope revealed in Titus 2:13, which we are awaiting as the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior, are intimately related to the person of God's Messiah, our Savior. Hence, He Himself is our hope, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). It was according to the command not only of our Savior God but also of the One who saved us with eternal life and will bring us into the glory of this life that Paul became an apostle. His command is of the eternal life and is to be fulfilled by the eternal life, in contrast to the command of the law-giving God, which was of letters and was to be fulfilled by human effort, without the supply of eternal life............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as He is also the 1Mediator of a 2better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.
61 mediator In His heavenly ministry Christ, as the Mediator, is the Executor of the new covenant, the new testament, which He bequeathed to us by His death.
62 better This better covenant not only was enacted upon better promises of a better law, the inner law of life (vv. 10-12), but also was consummated with Christ's better sacrifices (9:23), which accomplished for us an eternal redemption (9:12), and the better blood of Christ, which purifies our conscience (9:14). Even more, the High Priest of this better covenant, the eternal Son of the living God, ministers with a more excellent ministry (v.·6) and in the greater and more perfect tabernacle (9:11). ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Heb 13:20 Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the 1sheep, in the blood of an 2eternal covenant.
201 sheep The sheep here are the flock, which is the church. This confirms the view that the things covered in this chapter, with the experience of the unchanging Christ as our sin offering, through whom we were redeemed, and as our great Shepherd, by whom we are now being fed, are all for the church life.
201 eternal This book(Hebrews) does not concern temporal things, such as the things of the old covenant, but eternal things, things that are beyond the limit of time and space, such as eternal salvation (5:9), eternal judgment (6:2), eternal redemption (9:12), the eternal Spirit (9:14), the eternal inheritance (9:15), and the eternal covenant (13:20). The new covenant is not only a better covenant (7:22; 8:6) but also an eternal covenant. It is eternally effective because of the eternal efficacy of Christ's blood, with which it was enacted (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20). ............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Heb 2:11 For both 1He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them 2brothers.
111 He He who sanctifies is Christ as the firstborn Son of God, and those who are being sanctified are the believers of Christ as the many sons of God. Both the firstborn Son and the many sons of God are born of the same Father God in resurrection (Acts 13:33; 1·Pet. 1:3) and have the same divine life and nature. Hence, He is not ashamed to call them brothers.
112 brothers Previously, the most intimate term the Lord had used in reference to His disciples was friends (John 15:14-15). But after His resurrection He began to call them brothers, for through His resurrection His disciples were regenerated (1·Pet. 1:3) with the divine life, which had been released by His life-imparting death, as indicated in John 12:24. He was the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died and grew up to bring forth many grains for the producing of the one bread, which is His Body (1·Cor. 10:17). He was the Father's only Son, the Father's individual expression. Through His death and resurrection the Father's only begotten became the Firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). His many brothers are the many sons of God and are the church (Heb. 2:10-12), a corporate expression of God the Father in the Son. This is God's ultimate intention. The many brothers are the propagation of the Father's life and the multiplication of the Son in the divine life. Hence, in the Lord's resurrection God's eternal purpose is fulfilled............ Footnote of John 20:17 from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 15:15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all the things which I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
No footnote.
2 Cor. 3:17 And the 1Lord is the 2Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
171 Lord According to the context of this section, which begins at 2:12, the Lord here must refer to Christ the Lord (2:12, 14-15, 17; 3:3-4, 14, 16; 4:5). This then is a strong word in the Bible, telling us emphatically that Christ is the Spirit. The Lord Christ of v.3:16 is the Spirit who pervades and animates the new covenant of which we are ministers (v.·6), and the ministration of which is with glory (v.·8). Compare Rom. 8:9-11; John 14:16, 18 (Vincent). The Lord of v.·16, is the Spirit which giveth life, v.·6: meaning, `the Lord,' as here spoken of, `Christ,' `is the Spirit,' is identical with the Holy Spirit Christ, here, is the Spirit of Christ (Alford). All that transforming and indwelling Spirit is Christ Himself. `The Lord is the Spirit' (Williston Walker).
172 Spirit The Spirit, who is the ultimate expression of the Triune God, was not yet in John 7:39, because at that time Jesus had not yet been glorified. He had not yet finished the process that He, as the embodiment of God, had to pass through. After His resurrection, that is, after the finishing of all the processes, such as incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, that the Triune God had to pass through in man for His redemptive economy, He became a life-giving Spirit (1·Cor. 15:45). In the New Testament, this life-giving Spirit is called the Spirit (Rom. 8:16, 23, 26-27; Gal. 3:2, 5, 14; 6:8; Rev. 2:7; 3:22; 14:13; 22:17), the Spirit who gives us the divine life (2 Cor.3:6; John 6:63) and frees us from the bondage of the law. ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Rom. 14:8 For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's.
No footnote.
Rev 19:9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the 1marriage dinner of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.
91 marriage The marriage dinner of the Lamb here is the wedding feast in Matt. 22:2. It will be a reward to the overcoming believers. Only the overcomers will be called to it; not all the saved ones will participate in it. The five foolish virgins in Matt. 25:8-13 will miss it. However, after being dealt with by the Lord in the kingdom age, they will participate in the New Jerusalem for eternity. Hence, to be called to the marriage dinner of Christ, which will usher the overcoming believers into the enjoyment of the millennium, is to be blessed. The overcoming believers, who will be called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb, will also be the bride of the Lamb. ........... Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
Rev 22:2 And on this side and on that side of the river was 1the tree of life, producing twelve 2fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the 3leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
21 tree of life That the one tree of life grows on the two sides of the river signifies that the tree of life is a vine that spreads and proceeds along the flow of the water of life for God's people to receive and enjoy. This tree fulfills for eternity what God intended from the beginning (Gen. 2:9). The tree of life was closed to man because of his fall (Gen. 3:22-24), but it was opened to the believers through the redemption of Christ (Heb. 10:19-20). Today the enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life is the believers' common portion (John 6:35, 57). In the millennial kingdom the enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life will be a dispensational reward to the overcoming believers (Rev 2:7). Eventually, in the new heaven and new earth for eternity, the enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life will be the eternal portion of all God's redeemed (Rev 22:14, 19). Christ as the tree of life is the life supply available along the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. This is all in and with the divine nature as our holy way, signified by the street. This is the supply of the holy city, and this is the way the city is supplied.
22 fruit The fruits of the tree of life will be the food of God's redeemed for eternity. They will be continually fresh, being produced every month, twelve fruits yearly. That the tree of life bears twelve fruits means that the fruit of the tree of life is rich and is sufficient for the carrying out of God's eternal administration.
23 leaves The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. In the Bible, leaves are a symbol of man's deeds (Gen. 3:7). The leaves of the tree of life symbolize the deeds of Christ. The regenerated believers eat the fruit of the tree of life, receiving Christ as their inward life and life supply, that they may enjoy the divine life for eternity, whereas the restored nations are healed by the leaves of the tree of life, taking the deeds of Christ as their outward guide and regulation, that they may live the human life forever............ Footnote from New Testament Recovery Version.
John 5:1-15 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem near the sheepgate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down from time to time in the pool and stirred up the water; the first then to step in after the stirring up of the water was made well of whatever disease he was being held by. And a certain man was there, who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness. When Jesus saw this one lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you want to get well? The sick man answered Him, Sir, I 1have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your mat and walk. And immediately the man became well, and he took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day; Therefore the Jews said to the one who had been healed, It is the Sabbath, and it is 2not lawful for you to take up your mat. But he answered them, He who made me well, that One said to me, Take up your mat and walk. They asked him, Who is the man who said to you, Take up your mat and walk? But he who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, there being a crowd in that place. After these things Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, Behold, you have become well; sin no more so that nothing worse happens to you. The man went away and told the Jews that Jesus was the One who made him well.
1-151 There was a means for healing in the religion of law keeping, but it did not profit the impotent man, because he had no strength to fulfill the law's requirements. The law keeping in religion depends on man's effort, man's doing, man's make-up. Since man is impotent, the law keeping in religion becomes ineffective. The holy city, the holy temple, the feast, the Sabbath, the angels, Moses, and the Scriptures are all good things of this religion, but they could do nothing for this impotent man. In the eyes of the Lord he was a dead person (John 5:25), in need not only of healing but also of enlivening. With the Lord's enlivening there is no requirement. The impotent man heard His voice and was enlivened (John 5:25).
1-152 Life's enlivening broke religion's ritual. Religion was offended by life and began its opposition to life from this point (John 5:16, 18). The Sabbath is for man (Mark 2:27) and should be a rest to man. Religion's law keeping did not bring rest to this man who had been sick for thirty-eight years, but life's enlivening did. Yet the religious cared only for their ritual of Sabbath keeping; they had no concern for the sick man's rest............ Footnote John 5:7 & 10 from New Testament Recovery Version.